


Five Things That Never Happened to the Mechanist

by dharmavati, sporkyadrasteia (dharmavati)



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: 1000-3000 words, 5 Things, Alternate Universe - Canon, Canon - Cartoon, Challenge Response, Dark, Gen, It Made Sense In My Head, Minor Character Death, POV Alternating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-12-31
Updated: 2005-12-31
Packaged: 2017-10-03 16:47:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dharmavati/pseuds/dharmavati, https://archiveofourown.org/users/dharmavati/pseuds/sporkyadrasteia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"This place is a nightmare!": Five scenarios where the Mechanist's life could changed drastically.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Things That Never Happened to the Mechanist

**I.**

After the death of his wife, something in him broke and unwound. The cogs stopped turning and the gears in his mind began to rust, defeated by grief.

He half-heartedly followed the others in search of a new home, even if it was only for his son, Teo.

They found the Temple, a true blessing from above, and rejoiced but he didn't join them in their merrymaking.

After much pleading, he grudgingly drew up blueprints to help them try to rebuild the place, but he refused to pick up the hammer himself. He just couldn't do it anymore.

The others watched him lovingly carry his crippled son around the Temple with his own hands and clucked their tongues.

 

**II.**

On the second day, he found the air machines in one of the rooms. He caressed the tarp, imagining how these contraptions twisted the laws of physics to stay up in the air.

"This place is amazing!" he said to the other townspeople, but they didn't share his enthusiasm.

"This place seems unnatural," muttered Huo, the mayor of their old town. "Too creepy."

"It's just an Air Temple. No one has been here for a while now."

"But people have been murdered within these walls. We all can feel their spirits."

"We _need_ a home and everything is empty."

"It's not safe. Everything just reeks of bad luck," Huo said. The other people all nodded.

"But…." He wanted to show all of them the air machines, show them how to float in the air and _fly_, away from all of their recent troubles.

"No," interjected Huo. "We should only stay for one more night. Then, we will move on."

 

**III.**

In retrospect, the townspeople say in hushed tones, they should have prevented him for meddling around the deep, innermost parts of the Temple. Brilliant as he was, his work was always somewhat dangerous and only sheer luck had saved him so far.

That fateful day, he was last seen carrying some torch, telling Teo that he was off to hunt for something underground.

"I'll be back before dinner," he had said cheerfully before leaving.

An hour later, everyone felt the ground move as they all heard a great _BOOM_!

One of the teenagers, Sura, volunteered to go check on the Mechanist to make sure he was all right.

He returned, screaming about blood-splattered, charred walls, claiming that the only piece of the body still intact was the hand, sans three fingers.

 

**IV.**

The Mechanist waited in silence as the trapdoor opened.

"Well, hello, dear Mechanist. I hope you are well," the Fire Army general smirked.

"I have your order of-"

The general waved him off. "Ah, no need. My superior has some change of plans." He smiled as the Mechanist's eyes widened with fear.

"But… you promised the safety on my people!"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about them any longer," the general murmured. "My superior is more concerned with _you_."

"Me? What? I can't!"

"He would prefer that you come to the Fire Nation to work there itself. It would be a great _honor_ for you."

"I have my family here!"

"Oh, come now"-the general grabbed the Mechanist's collar-"surely this is small price to pay for the safety of your people?"

With a groan, the lift below the trapdoor started to descend and they both disappeared under the floorboard.

 

**V.**

Aang, Katara, and Sokka finally found themselves heading for the Northern Air Temple after a tip-off from a storyteller.

"I hope that this will be better that the trip to Southern Air Temple," Aang said, steering Appa through the clouds. His face suddenly brightened. "Hey, maybe we can find a friend for Momo and Appa!"

Momo chirped back while Appa just yawned.

"Uh, Aang, we don't want you to get all your hopes up. The world thinks that Air Nomads died out for a reason, after all," began Katara, glancing nervously at Sokka.

"What are you talking about?" Aang asked back, looking both excited and confused.

"Well, just remember last time we went to an Air Temple?" Sokka asked.

Aang's face lost a little of its cheerful glow. "Oh. Right. Well, I promise, whatever happens, I won't freak out like that. It just, you know, helps to be positive."

"That's right, Aang," said Katara, giving Sokka a firm look as he returned to his normal pessimist face.

They all (Sokka included) gasped as the Air Temple came into view.

"Wow! It looks so beautiful when it's nestled like that between all those mountains!" Katara whispered.

"Yeah," drawled Sokka, reverting to his nonchalant face. " It looks… okay, I guess."

"You know, there might actually be someone living inside," Aang whispered as Appa began to land.

*****

The inside of the Temple was a distressing disappointment.

"There's… nothing," sighed Aang.

"Yeah, firebenders were definitely here," said Katara, noticing the scorched inner walls.

Sokka rubbed at the burns. "This looks really _recent_."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, the firebenders must have been here within the last few years. These burns can't be older than ten years or so. And there was a definite struggle here."

"That's horrible," murmured Katara.

Aang continued walking along the corridor and gasped. There were pipes everywhere, covering all the beautiful murals of his ancestors. The contents of all the rooms were reduced to ashes and burnt rubble.

And the deepest, most sacred part of the temple was open.

Aang ran inside to find decaying skeletons and hideous weapons.

"This place is a nightmare!"

"I know. We should just stay here for the night," Sokka said. "I don't feel safe here. We'll be off to the Northern Water Tribe at dawn."

"Yeah," mumbled Aang, drooping his head. "Let's get out of here as soon as possible."

*****

That night, after they made camp near the flying bison stables, Aang lay awake, mulling over the fate of his people. It was too horrible for him to bear at times, the idea that he really was the _last_ airbender.

He couldn't sleep well that night, under the roof of his ancestors, as he tossed and turned, listening to Sokka's snores and the scuttling of hermit crabs.

 

_fin_


End file.
